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and 45 % energy savings (Bond 2010 ). 5 This serves to illustrate that this kind of
biomimicry (process biomimicry at the behaviour level) should be considered as
one aspect of a larger and more holistic response to climate change than incor-
porates an understanding of human behaviour elements in design rather than a sort
of quick technological fix.
Improving general energy efficiency is an important part of addressing climate
change, but should be regarded as an intermediate step (McDonough and Braun-
gart 2002 , p. 62). Improving efficiencies helps to reduce the intensity of GHG
emissions but does not challenge assumptions about how and why technologies are
made and used. Nor does it address the underlying causes of climate change such
as dependence on fossil fuels. Other researchers also detail increased rather than
decreased energy use as a result of energy efficiency initiatives. This is referred to
as 'Jevons Paradox' (Jevons 1865 ). Simplistically, as efficiencies increase, the
price of a technology goes down often resulting in a net increase in consumption.
Improving energy efficiencies does allow positive incremental changes to be made
to existing technologies and buildings rather than assuming the only way forward
is a complete rebuild of the built environment (which is not possible). Energy
efficiency could, therefore, be important in the short term for the built environment
becoming better able to address climate change.
4.3.2 Biomimetic Energy Generation
Several biomimetic technologies or systems aim to replace the use of fossil fuels as
the primary human energy source. Looking to the living world for inspiration is
appropriate in this regard, because almost all organisms source energy from
renewable sources, which predominantly is directly or indirectly from contem-
porary sunlight. Examples of biomimetic systems for development of alternative
energy sources include mimicking the process of artificial photosynthesis in solar
energy cell technology (Moore et al. 2004 ; Collis et al. 2005 ; Davidson 2003 ), 6
microbial fuel cells generated from electron donors in wastewater, biomass con-
version systems, radiosynthesis-based systems 7 (Gebeschuber et al. 2009 ) and the
development of ocean energy technologies that mimic how sea kelp or certain fish
move efficiently in water.
5 Both The Gauge and Workplace6 hold two 6 Green Star ratings, one based on the design and
one 'as built'. This means estimations of performance given above are based on the building after
construction, not just on the design. Values, however, are still based on simulations rather than
measured performance. Bond ( 2010 ) discusses some of the issues between estimations given by
simulations and actual measured performance that can lead to quite different results. Performance
estimates given above should therefore be treated with caution.
6
See also the work of the Australian Artificial Photosynthesis Network (AAPN).
7
Radiosynthesis refers to the process of melanin in micro-organisms capturing high-energy
electromagnetic radiation to generate metabolic energy (Gebeschuber et al. 2009 ).
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